ONS: 03 February 2016

AFRICA: Prosecution lawyers in Burundi have appealed the verdicts in the trial of leaders of a failed coup, demanding all should face life sentences including seven who were acquitted.

AMERICAS: Hundreds of Haitians took to the streets to protest against a potential transitional government, with President Michel Martelly due to leave office but not yet replaced.

ASIA: As North Korea has announced a planned test of a long-range rocket, China, the North’s key ally, acknowledged it can’t thwart the looming launch.

EUROPE: The battle over Britain’s future in the EU intensified as British PM David Cameron braced for a barrage of attacks from eurosceptics over proposed reforms the European Commission defended as a “fair” deal for all.

MIDDLE EAST: The head of the main Syrian umbrella opposition group, former Syrian premier Riad Hijab, will arrive in Switzerland to join troubled peace talks.

TECHNOLOGY: European and US negotiators agree on new ‘Safe Harbor’ data deal, the EU-US Privacy Shield, offering greater protection for European personal data.

TOP STORY

Somalia: Investigation into airplane explosion begins.

A man was killed in an explosion on an Airbus A321 that made a hole in the fuselage and forced the plane to return to the Somali capital of Mogadishu to make an emergency landing.

The airplane, operated by Daalo Airlines and flying from Mogadishu to Djibouti with around 60 passengers, landed safely.

Officials at Somalia’s civil aviation authority say they have found no evidence so far of a criminal act in blast aboard plane.

Foreign technical experts were involved in the inquiry, said Ali Mohamoud, an aviation official at the Mogadishu airport.

Burundi: Prosecution lawyers in the country have appealed the verdicts in the trial of leaders of a failed coup, demanding all should face life sentences including seven who were acquitted. (AFP)

Egypt: An appeals court overturned on death sentences for 149 pro-Islamists accused of killing policemen in a mob attack on their station. (AFP)

Rwanda: The UN High Commission for Refugees announced it has earmarked USD 10.8M to help refugees in the country. (Xinhua)

AMERICAS

Argentina: The country’s new government reached its first settlement with “holdout” bondholders, a group of some 50,000 Italian investors whose bonds were defaulted on in 2001. (AFP)

Haiti: Hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against a potential transitional government, with President Michel Martelly due to leave office but not yet replaced. (AFP)

United States: A rare case of the Zika virus being transmitted through sex, not a mosquito bite, has been reported in the country. (BBC)

ASIA

Region: US ambassador Philip Goldberg said joint patrols with the Philippines are possible in the China-claimed areas of the South China Sea. (AP)

Region: China released the results of a judicial investigation which says Chinese Uighurs from the Xinjiang region have been trained as “terrorists” in Afghanistan. (EFE)

Region: As North Korea has announced a planned test of a long-range rocket, China, the North’s key ally, acknowledged it can’t thwart the looming launch. (Yonhap)

Japan: PM Shinzo Abe confirmed intentions to amend the country’s constitution to further broaden the operational scope of the nation’s Self-Defense Forces. (Xinhua)

EUROPE

Region: The risk of open war between Russia and Ukraine is greater than last year and Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun an “information war” against Germany, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said. (Reuters)

Region: The battle over Britain’s future in the EU intensified as British PM David Cameron braced for a barrage of attacks from eurosceptics over proposed reforms the European Commission defended as a “fair” deal for all. (AFP)

France: The government is calling for a three-month extension of the state of emergency that has been declared after 13NOV deadly attacks in Paris. (AP)

Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s cabinet agreed to restrict family reunions for refugees and to fast track asylum requests as part of efforts to reduce newcomers arriving in the country. (DPA)

Ireland: A general election in the country is to take place on 26FEB. (BBC)

MIDDLE EAST

Iraq: Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani has declared that the “time has come” for the country’s Kurds to hold a referendum on statehood. (AFP)

Israel: Gaza’s militant Islamic Hamas rulers say two of its men have been killed after a tunnel they were digging into Israel collapsed. (AP)

Syria: The head of the main umbrella opposition group, former premier Riad Hijab, will arrive in Switzerland to join troubled peace talks. (AFP)

Syria: Russia said it would continue its bombing campaign in the country until “terrorist organizations” such as the Islamic State group are defeated. (AFP)

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS

Technology: European and US negotiators agree on new ‘Safe Harbor’ data deal, the EU-US Privacy Shield, offering greater protection for European personal data. (WP)